BOYUURANGE A50 MKIII 300B Tube Amplifier

AMAZING, nothing short of AMAZING, but not without its hiccups. This is my second A50 purchase, coming from the Sprout100 and the INFI hybrid class AB amplifier.For reference, my rig: TIDAL Hi-Fi subscription played with AUDIRVANA, speakers and subwoofer ELAC Debut B6.2 and DAC S.M.S.L SU-9 paired with some very good RCA interconnects. Brings tears to the eyes :)My first A50 did sound good, but within two days it malfunctioned, developing hiss and crackling noise on the right channel, similar to what others have experienced here. After several days with support (the very helpful Martina), I returned it and tried again with another purchase.Now this second one *ALSO* arrived defective, but a minor defect - the front knobs were loose and fell off the unit when assembling! Being reasonably handy I fixed it myself, but boy I was pissed! However, all it took was to turn it on... and amazing does it sound!! After breaking in a few weeks, I hereby testify the sound is somewhat holographic, delicious - I can't really stop listening to it, which is the greatest compliment any audio gear manufacturer can get.So, in short, their factory QC (or the shipping process, whatever) is indeed poor and NEEDS improvement. TWO defective units in a row! But it was all worthwhile. It works beautifully and I strongly recommend the A50 over anything you can get on Amazon regarless of the price. After coming from decades of Denon and Onkyo AVRs, then the PSAudio's Sprout100 amplifier, then the INFI's class AB hybrid tube amplifier, and *two* A50's, I'm now settled.This is an amazing purchase, regardless of the inconveniences and nuisances. Buy it! Be aware and ready to return it (once or twice) if need so, but eventually you won't be dissatisfied (do not recommend for travellers and international buyers for this reason).To the manufacturer: you *REALLY* need to pull up your socks with your factory QC and your shipping gear. When it works, the quality of the product overcomes the hassles (it is THAT good), but not all customers may have the same tolerance. All that said, congrats for this amplifier. It is marvelous.Ed

This product is sold on Amazon by TheTubeAmpStore. That's what I really want to write the review about - their service, honesty, prompt replies and quick turnaround on my repair amp which had a power transformer issue after 4 months of use. After I reached out, they replied within one hour. I described my issue and they sent me a shipping label. I boxed it up and sent it off. Four days later, Rick J. from the tech support team reached out, told me what my issue was and told me my options. Long story short, 10 days after I shipped it to them, it returned to my doorstep and was fixed 100% under warranty and has workedflawlessly for the last week. That was the most impressive customer service I've ever experienced in my many years in the HiFi hobby.Now the amp... it's so crystal clear. Yea, cliche, but the 300b tube sound is definitely more warm and slightly subdued. I have an Audio Space 2.8i (which costs more than this) which is a push/pull tube amp centered around the 12AX7 tube design. That ampo is also quite good, but it's very DIRECT and very dialed in. Kind of punchy, clear and more in-your-face sounding. And, the tradeoff is that it's kind of fatiguing. This amp (with the stock tubes) is anything but what I described. You won't get tired and dulled or over-stimulated senses from this amp. It's more mellow with the mids so smooth and warm. But, really, the biggest surprise was how wide the sound stage is. I didn't expect that. In my medium sized room it gets plenty loud and even turned up, no distortion at all. The sound seems to come from all around. I'm using them with vintage Klipsch speakers with a 95db efficiency rating. I've not tried them with anything other than these speakers...but I'm sure it'll be just fine with 88db rated speakers too. There's no hum or hiss at all. I use it to play my vinyl records. In between songs you cannot hear any surface noise. It also puts out plenty of bass. I have a subwoofer but I have not needed it with this amp.I think the stock tubes sound fine.... but after a couple months I read a lot of stuff where people have upgraded the 300b tubes with a pair of Genalex PX300B Gold Lion tubes. The are expensive (they start at around $420 for a pair of them). I didn't need them, but I wanted to just "hear" for myself what I was hearing about how these good these Gold Lion tubes were.... at this point I can say I will never buy another amp. I listen to a lot of jazz, acoustic music, indie rock and pop, old country and old school blues from the 1920s and 1930s. It all sounds great on this. The vocals are so clear and full. The knobs turn so smoothly smooth and the fit and finish is wonderful to look at. Even if you don't upgrade the 300b tubes, this will still sound great.These are only my opinions. I'm not an audiophile but heard how different the tube experience can be. Dang, no kidding. If you are considering your first tube amp - this will likely blow you away. If you are a tube guy already - maybe the 300b "tube reputation" has you wondering. I don't think you can go wrong with this especially at $849.

I ordered this 300B amp on Monday thru Amazon, took 4-5days to arrived, I immediately opened the box, excellent packing, double box, everything is intact, no damage! Right out of the box, I was shocked at how good it sounded, it sparkled on my cheap speakers(small Onkyo 8 ohms)this 300B stuns me on the clarity , crystal clear sound especially when I hooked it up on my Klipsch Heresy 3, dang, it’s a perfect combo, stunning sound, magical midrange, vocal, jazz, instrumental music, all the cd I played came out really cleaned detailed and warm and alive!More depth and pronounced on instrumental sound like jazz, etc. My old tube amps were blown away with this mighty A50 mkiii! I could not believe the power it delivers being rated at only 7.6 watt per channel.The amp is built solidly, and it dead quiet! No hum even I have 99db sensitivity on my Klipsch Heresy iii. I’ve been using for only 35 hrs now(300B has not open up yet)but every time I listen to it I am floored! A50 mkiii 300B is hard to beat especially the price! Absolutely fantastic value for money, A bargain!